Along with copyright, trademarks, and trade secrets, patents are an example of intellectual property (IP). A U.S. patent gives the inventor the right to "exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling" an invention or "importing" it into the U.S. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell, or import the invention, but the right to stop others from doing so.
Disclaimer: If someone infringes on your patent, you may initiate legal action. However, U.S. patents are effective only within the U.S. and its territories and possessions.
Kenton, W. (2025, April 8). What is a patent in simple terms? With examples. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/patent.asp
How long is a patent valid?
Utility and plant patents have a term for up to 20 years from the date the first non-provisional application for patent was filed. A design patent is granted for a term of 15 years from the date of the grant.
What can be patented?
For a patent to be issued, your invention must meet 4 conditions:
The laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas cannot be patented, nor can only an idea or a suggestion. Literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works cannot be patented; these would fall under Copyright. Inventions which are not useful or are offensive to public morality cannot be patented.
From the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Utility Patents
Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.
From Iowa University Libraries' Patents Guide
Example: Method and apparatus for activating switches in response to different acoustic signals (AKA "The Clapper")
Design Patents
Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.
From Iowa University Libraries' Patents Guide
Example: Patent for the design of a molded shoe (AKA Crocs)
Plant Patents
Plant Patents are granted by the U.S. government to an inventor who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber propagated plant of a plant found in an uncultivated area. The grant "protects the patent owner's right to exclude others from asexually reproducing the plant, and from using, offering for sale, or selling the plant so reproduced, or any of its parts, throughout the U.S., or from importing the plant so reproduced, or any part thereof, into the U.S."
From USPTO
Example: Apple Tree - Honeycrisp (founded at the University of Minnesota!)